382 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1937 



forms not usually mentioned above a whisper? Think of the furs, 

 the clothing destroyed by clothes moths, the furniture destroyed by 

 carpet beetles, and the furniture and buildings wrecked by termites. 

 Does not all this suggest some of the reasons for the treating of insects? 



Treatmg of insects includes also consideration of their distribution 

 and spread. Man, by his means of conununication and desire for 

 products, plants, and materials found in other sections, has provided 

 many ways to spread insects into new areas. Examples of this are 

 numerous; that there are not more of them is surprising. But the 

 entomologist has not overlooked the importance of this and the serious 

 consequences that may arise if no restrictions are imposed. It has 

 been the entomologist who was, and still is, the prime mover in the 

 establishment and enforcement of laws and regulations to prevent the 

 spread of plant pests. This has led to the development of another 

 specialized field in this science of treating insects, a field touching 

 many activities, at home and abroad ; activities which affect the com- 

 merce of the comitry and the world, requiring the examination of 

 ships entering our ports, inspection and treatnissnt of products, fumi- 

 gation of railway care; and many others too numerous to mention. 

 Specialization in this phase of the work of treating of insects, one of 

 the newer aspects of the science, has come into importance so recently 

 that its principles and fundamentals receive only inadequate consider- 

 ation in the preparatory instructions offered by many schools of 

 higher learning. This, despite the fact that the work of quarantine is 

 carried on by Federal and State forces in as close cooperation as any 

 work in the treating of insects that can be mentioned. 



What faciUties are available for treating of insects? In the Bureau 

 of Entomology and Plant Quarantine research work on insects is 

 going on outside of Washington and outside of the National Agricul- 

 tural Research Center at Beltsville, Md., at 92 stations in 34 States, 

 and at any one station several divisions of the Bureau may be located, 

 as for example, Orlando, Fla. Research work including parasite studies 

 is also going on at stations in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, 

 France, and Japan. Quarantine and control work is being carried 

 on at 166 permanent stations in 41 States and in Hawaii and Puerto 

 Rico. These are manned by permanent employees and do not take 

 into account the large number of seasonal or temporary employees 

 used in various features of the work. 



\\Tien entomological work in the United States Department of 

 Agriculture attained the status of a bureau July 1, 1904, the appro- 

 priation was $82,450. This fiscal year it is $5,317,675, with 1,621 

 permanent employees. In addition there have been made available 

 durmg the past year $12,000,000 in emergency funds, and last summer 

 the peak employment figure was 27,000 people on pest-control projects 

 paid wdth emergency funds exclusive of regular appropriations. 



